Icarus
by AnOddPerson
Summary: Dr. Maximum Ride and Joseph Mandaiyar work at a research facility in New Mexico. Life is calm - until a group of mercenaries attacks the facility. Mandaiyar teams up with a group of allies, his colleague Dr. Ride, and his new employer, head of Fowl Industries Artemis Fowl Jr., and together the group seeks to find the truth behind the attack - however elusive that may be.
1. Chapter 1: Good Morning, Mr Mandaiyar

_**Welcome to the Prologue of Flames, the story who's title sounds like the name of a romance fanfic despite not being so.**_

_** This story will be split into four parts, but, as Fanfiction works, it will be split up in the Chapter section by each individual chapter. I know that this kinda over-complicates things, but in terms of the story, there are 4 major parts.  
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_**This particular story began as an idea in my head 3 years ago, in 2011. At the time, I had just got an account on another fanfiction site, for a particular series of books which I shan't name. I'd read some pretty spectacular crossovers and I was inspired to write something of the same sort of writing. This particular iteration of the story is probably the 6-8th. I've COMPLETELY switched between several book series, completely altered the story line, renamed characters, changed characters...and here we are. I hope you enjoy it!**_

_**Also, for the record, this is one of my first "Stories" ever published on Fanfiction, and I'm not entirely well acclimated with the publishing methods. The first five chapters were uploaded in one chunk, and they are somewhat difficult to separate. If you see some VERY long chapters, perhaps with multiple chapters, you know why.  
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_**THIS IS IN BOLD TO GRAB YOUR ATTENTION. The first upload chunk of this story (the first 5 chapters) and likely the next will not contain Artemis Fowl content, despite that being listed as the book being crossover'ed. There is yet another notice of this at the author's notes at the end of Chapter 5. IT WILL COME. It is not there YET, but it WILL COME. If someone, after having read the whole section and reviewing it, complains to me about this, I will have a fit of rage that will probably result in me writing angrily in the next portion of the story. **_

**Chapter 1: Good Morning, Mr. Mandaiyar…**

Joseph Mandaiyar was late. Very much so. As a security officer, that was never good. All it would take was one hostile observer, and the facility could fall.

He could never let that happen. He could never let _them _win.

He tried to put the thoughts of getting a lecture from Freeman out of his head, but it was difficult to do. Freeman was his employer, but was more so a mentor. Joseph would definitely get an earful over this. He could hear it now: _Don't you realize what could happen? What if something went wrong? What if Matarus finally went through with their attack?  
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Joseph felt empathy for the hero types. He'd heard the whole "discipline is not pleasant **at the time" **stuff, but he didn't truly believe it. He didn't have a "purpose". His only purpose had been to stay alive. Now it was to get money, get a house, be a contributing member of society, et cetera. None of which included some glorious purpose.

Suddenly, he jumped up in the air and hit the ceiling as the shuttle hit a bump. As he fell back down his arm brushed up against a sharp metal support, and he was cut by it. Several seconds later, he could see it in his head:

_Minor laceration detected. Tetanus infection detected: vaccine neutralization implemented. Wrap wound to prevent further infection. _

Joseph grinned to himself. Some people had little voices inside their head; he had one that read his medical status. It could even begin treatment of wounds and administration of natural painkilling materials. He seemed to have a heightened immune system: he had been at the forefront of vaccine testing for the first 14 years of his life, and he had little nano-antibodies and nano-macrophages throughout his bodies. Whenever an area of Joseph's body was infected, this voice would tell him where and how to treat it. It could even stop nausea and headaches. In a way, it felt like a special power, though he was confused by how it determined one's quality of life: _Overall Health Level: 99%. _

On the other aisle of the shuttle sat Dr. Ride, one of the researchers at the facility, who rubbed her head, wincing. "Nothing like a good boulder kiss to wake you up, eh?" Joseph said.

A "boulder kiss" was a term used jokingly by facility personnel referring to when the shuttle, the transit system between dormitories and the facility, would run over a rock, plant, or in some cases animal. Judging by the force of the blow, this one had been a boulder. Odd, since there hadn't been one yesterday. "Looks like you could've used one a little earlier," she retorted. "Playing more video games late at night while you should be sleeping?"

"Hey, I work in the middle of fragging _nowhere. _I think I deserve having a little _Mass Effect 4 _marathon every once in a while."

"We _all _work in the middle of nowhere. And I guess by "once in a while", you mean every night."

"Not every night. Maybe about three per week?"

"Oh, that makes it better. Two days off the schedule. I feel much more secure."

"You know what Fox News says: somehow playing a virtual bit of code and shooting virtual people causes sane human beings to become violent."

"So… you expect to keep us secure by just beating up anyone who enters?"

"Nah. I'll just shoot at 'em."

Dr. Ride did not laugh, however. Though Mandaiyar was joking, the threat of attack was very real. The kidnapping of fellow scientist Marc Newell the previous year had prompted the head of Research, Dr. Freeman, to hire Mandaiyar as security. No attack had come, though. Joseph saw this as a job well done; he knew quite a lot about Dr. Ride's past, and he hoped that he could finally erase the threat from above her head.

"Sector E Biology Labs", the driver said over the intercom. Dr. Ride worked in Sector E, and thus she stood up and left. "Have a good one", Joseph said. Dr. Ride just grunted in response as she left.

The shuttle continued, carrying its only passenger to the Sector C Security Complex. They arrived, and Mandaiyar left. A security guard stood protecting the door, permitting only authorized personnel to enter. "Oh man, Mandaiyar," he said, chuckling, "Freeman's gonna have a fit!"

"Laugh it up, Barnes," Joseph said. "You better let me through."

"'Course, sir," Barnes said. He pressed the door entry button – coded to only his hand – and let Joseph in. He first walked upstairs, to the Annex. Here, a variety of guards prepared for the day. A small group of them headed down to the armory. For the convenience of the security personnel, Sector C was connected to all main facilities by tunnels extending out from the building. Heavy guards were at each end of the tunnel, as for the facilities these were the only entrance points. Several guards walked down to their respective tunnels and facilities. Just a typical day. Mandaiyar, already in uniform, headed to the latter to grab his weapon and armor.

As the Head of Security, Mandaiyar got to choose his own weapon, within reason. He had contemplated taking an assault rifle, possibly a G36C, as were an attack to come he would need firepower, but then decided against it, as lugging around an assault rifle each day would be highly impractical. He instead decided to carry a handgun, a Sig P226, a reliable piece of weaponry. New officers were given the M9 Beretta as their weapon; more experienced officers could carry .44 Magnum handguns and shotguns; the top tier guards, called Heavies by their peers, could be armed with assault rifles, light machine guns, and even fragmentation grenades. These so-called Heavies were limited in number, as the facility could not afford to buy weapons for a lot of them.

Joseph also wore Kevlar body armor, and put this on. He started walking to meet up with Dr. Freeman, but turned around, reopened his locker, and pulled out additional clips for his sidearm. Better safe than sorry.

He then walked to the Office Complex. Connected to the security Annex for safety, the Office Complex housed nearly all of L-150's administrative facilities and personnel. Its only entrance was through the Annex, and the Complex was buried; no windows to allow in intruders. Freeman's office was large, with multiple computer screens and live monitors of the facility all around. He also had a secure door leading to a panic room. Freeman was sitting there, looking surprising happy for someone who had a very important _late _employee. "Good morning, Joseph," he said.

Joseph, unsure of how to respond, replied "Hello."

He prepared to recite the apology he'd had planned for this occasion when Dr. Freeman cut him off. "I suppose no one briefed you about this, Joseph, but there is a major test going on in Sector A. Evidently, they think they've found some way to make solar panels far more efficient. As such, I'd like for you to oversee the test, and make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Sure thing, sir," Mandaiyar replied.

"I've also had reports of an incredibly late security guard. Please discipline whomever he was."

"Uh- yes, sir. I'll…take care of it." Joseph, aware of who the late guard was, replied.

"Good. See you after the test."

"You too."

Somehow Mandaiyar had gotten his neck off the chopping block. He didn't know who it was that had protected him, though. Pierce? Couldn't have been him, he barely saw Mandaiyar come in. Barnes? No, he would have seen him come in. Shephard! Must have been him. No one else could have done it.

He walked up to the main desk, where Shephard was sitting. "Ay, Adam?" He whispered.

"Yeah, Joe?" Shephard responded.

"I owe you. Thanks for not counting my tardiness."

Shephard grinned and said, "No problem. Just save my hind the next time an opportunity arises, eh?."

Mandaiyar waved and walked down to the Sector A Tunnel. The Heavy at the door checked his I.D. and let him threw. He began to walk down to the other end. On a typical day, he would have gone to Sector E or D to aid there, but he had a special assignment today. Just as well, as Dr. Patterson's endless drone about his work in Sector E practically put Joseph back to sleep. He was tired at the moment, and began to contemplate a cup of-

Suddenly, a thunderous _boom _rocked the tunnel, dust coming down from the ceiling. Several more _boom_s echoed throughout the tunnel. The ceiling began to rumble as rocks fell from above. Mandaiyar began to run back as the ceiling to Sector A began to collapse behind him. A wave of rocks hit him, and he fell. The last thing he could remember hearing was the yelling of the Heavy at the end of the Sector A tunnel as the world turned black.

Then everything became silent.


	2. Chapter 2: Shock

**Prologue, Chapter 2: Shock**

_Dust fell in grey sheets. Rocks buried everything. Black was his vision…_

Mandaiyar awoke on the floor, lying prostrate. Every inch of him felt hurt, and for several seconds he worried that he was now paralyzed. His medical status flashed in his mind:

_Minor Lacerations detected. Foreign matter inhaled. General minor bodily trauma. Overall Health Level: 92%. _

Joseph grimaced. He rarely got down to 92%. He'd been shot a couple times and made it lower, but it was rare for him to be this hurt. His grimace deepened as he stood up with sore legs, brushing dust off himself. He began to check his gear:

_Flashlight: check. Armor: intact. Radio: check. Weapon: check. _He pulled out his radio, turned to regular Sector C security frequency, and asked, to anyone that listened: "This is Mandaiyar. Is anyone there? Repeat, is anyone there?"

He waited several seconds, but there was no response. This greatly worried him, as at any time of day in the facility there must be at least 2 operating security guards in Sector C to assist anyone who needs assistance. Believing unconfirmed worry unproductive, he began to rationalize in his head what might have happened:

_Perhaps a stray plane got lost over New Mexico and crashed here. That's happened before, and they've even gotten close the facility before…but why is no one from C still communicating? There'd be at least _someone, _surely. _He decided to rule out this theory, as the chances of it being the correct conclusion were slim to none. _Perhaps an earthquake hit the area. Given that it was a big one, it probably would knock down radio towers and knock out our communications. It probably would also collapse the tunnel. _It didn't account for the booms, but Joseph thought it was the most likely theory, and decided not to try to talk to anyone by radio, assuming that there was no way they could hear him.

He looked behind him to scan the way to Sector A, but, discomfortingly, it was completely blocked. There was no way for him to get to SA and check for survivors, and, being the only upright building in the base, it was far more likely to have collapsed than any other of the base's facilities. Joseph realized there was nothing he could do, and continued on back to the Sector C entrance. Strangely, the guard was missing, even though it was their responsibility to stay and help guide anyone in the tunnels in the case of an emergency. This said, it would have been more likely for the guard, their view was obstructed by the dust, to have only seen the rubble and not Joseph, and decided to go upstairs and help any survivors.

He decided to follow the presumed path of the guard, but as he head up the stairs, he saw an omen forever accepted as being bad:

A trail of blood.

He also heard some sort of radio chatter, though he was too far away to hear it. Mandaiyar decided to follow the trail of blood, as this may have been an injured survivor who need assistance. He turned the corner, and looked around. All he could see, though, was the dead body of the guard who had been standing at the entrance to Sector C. He could hear the radio's message more clearly now. It said: "This is Dr. Alexander Hamilton of the Sector C Office Complex. There has been an earthquake, and we know that there are survivors trapped below. Head out into the main lobby. Do NOT HEAD to the Armory or the Office Complex, as both areas are unstable and partially caved in. I repeat, this is…"

The same message played over and over again, repeating itself. It was obviously meant to be heard. He had never heard the name Dr. Alexander Hamilton, but it they might have been someone he didn't know about. Something else was off…

The Office Complex and the Armory had both been designed to not cave in. Granted, Joseph did not know the magnitude of the earthquake, but he was fairly certain that they wouldn't just collapse. His eyes drifted over to the body of the guard, and he decided to examine it closer. The body appeared more or less intact, but the guard, his chest upturned, had a shocked expression on his face, his mouth still open. Had he been bleeding to death, this wouldn't have been. Mandaiyar checked the chest… and he saw it. There, a puncture in the armor, regularly colored in order to hide the wound…a bullet wound. Closer examination revealed it to have cleanly come through the Kevlar. An armor piercing bullet.

It all clicked then. Had it been an accidental shooting by a security guard – even that would have been sketchy – the bullet wound wouldn't have been clean, and someone would have moved the body or tended to the victim. No, someone meant to kill the guard. They also probably set up the message to lure survivors into the lobby. Whoever it was, they were going full _Revenge of the Sith _clone trooper on the survivors. A terrifying thought popped into Joseph's mind. _Kate, _he thought. His younger sister, his only family, quite possibly the only person in the entire facility he really loved. She was in Sector E, right in the crossfire.

He saw a nearby vent entrance, and he broke it down, about to enter. He crouched, and then suddenly an idea popped into his head. He moved back to the body. The guard was completely disarmed of weapons, but strapped to his belt were three fragmentation grenades. Mandaiyar took them, and strapped them to his belt.

He moved into a crouching position, and crawled into the vent.


	3. Chapter 3: Trauma

**Prologue, Chapter 3: Trauma**

It didn't matter how much _Black Mesa _or _Deus Ex: Human Revolution _he played. Crawling through dusty vents was hardly an easy task. The only thing that kept Joseph moving was the idea of returning the favor to whomever had shot the security guard. He had drawn his P226 out, ready to shoot whomever he didn't immediately identify as a friend.

He walked up to another vent grate, and looked through the holes. He saw the main entrance, mostly devoid of life. Bodies of scientists and guards alike littered the floor. In the center were two men in black body armor, armed to the teeth with silenced MP5s. One of them with a deep voice spoke up, his voice modified through a radio. "This operation's gone better than I expected. We lure them in and kill them. Simple and easy."

Evidently they hadn't been gifted with intelligence, as _simple _and _easy _were synonyms.

"Heard about this Mandaiyar guy? They say he's genetically engineered. Dangerous."

Joseph cringed. He _hated _that being brought up. Being…altered…and taught to be a soldier from age 6 was nothing he was proud of. If it weren't for Dr. Freeman, he never would have learned to be normal. He always would have been a soldier if it weren't for him. Sometimes, during combat situations, a little voice in Joseph's head told him that he should be grateful for being taught how to shoot and fight and think…and then the rational side of him remembered the enhancements, the beatings, the ever-present need to be better or die. He hadn't exactly gotten a good hand in life.

"Still probably not as dangerous as we are, though," the soldiers said.

"Yeah," Bonehead #2 replied. "Definitely not even close to us."

_We'll see about that, _Mandaiyar thought.

He continued on down the shaft, and soon he came to an open exit. Stealthily, he jumped down, making no noise. He was in a hallway, on the path from the Armory to the Annex. He moved down the hallway, crouched, looking for targets. Suddenly, Joseph saw one. A lone soldier. Suddenly, realizing the soldiers he had passed were in the nearby Annex, he developed a plan to take all three down quickly.

Joseph unclipped a grenade from his belt, drawing a bead on the lone soldier with his handgun. It was important that he make the shot or the entire plan could fold around him. He took a breath in, and prepared to fire. He took the shot.

The soldier was hit in the head, and fell to the ground as though hit by a shovel. Down the hall, in the Annex, he could hear the soldiers yelling, having heard the shot. They began to run down the hallway. Joseph put down his pistol and pulled the pin on the grenade. _Three…two…one! _He threw the grenade and rolled behind a corner. The two soldiers rounded the corner to face a live grenade. They could barely recognize the threat before they were thrown back into the annex, dead.

Though he had defeated the Terrible Trio, Joseph knew that there would be more. He ran into the armory. On a table next to a dead security guard was a G36C Carbine. He picked it up and grabbed two mags for it off the guard, then made for another vent as he heard footsteps through the hall. He entered just as he saw the soldier turn the corner.

Now Joseph was hot off his first victory. He reloaded his pistol and checked his ammo count for the carbine. Though his training had taught him to be stealthy and he wished for a silencer, he could be stealthy in other manners. He now headed for the upper level, overlooking the Annex. When he got to this level, he gently removed the vent grating, not wishing to catch unwanted attention.

The lights were out in the upper level, the staff presumably having left and the soldiers presumably having already scanned. Joseph crept along, looking for any life. He moved into a room, completely dark except for the light from the lobby. He raised his rifle and scanned the room –

Suddenly, Joseph felt someone tackle him onto the floor in the dark. They rolled, and the other man ended up on top. The man pulled out a knife and pointed it at Joseph's throat. It was at this moment that he realized that the man was a fellow guard.

"Wait!" Mandaiyar whispered. "I'm a friendly."

It took the other man a second, but he rolled off Joseph and onto the floor. "Name?" he whispered.

"Barnes?" Joseph asked.

"That's my name, idiot!"

"Jeez, calm down. I'm MANDAIYAR. Are you Barnes or his other deep voiced twin?"

"Barnes I am. Sorry about that. I was standing outside when the bombings began-"

"Bombings?" Josephs whispered. "So they bombed, and then…"

"I ran inside to take cover, but I saw soldiers deploying off helicopters and onto the facility. So I ran up here, and hid." The tension in Barnes's whisper was gone now as he realized he was with a friend.

"Hey, I heard a _bang _and a _boom _a coupla minutes ago. Was that-"

"Yup, that was me," Mandaiyar responded. "I came up here through the ventilation system."

Barnes nodded, and then said "Look, I'm pretty sure I saw a whole squadron of them go into the building. I say we go kill the rest, than we go and see if we can find ourselves some survivors. I don't have a weapon, though…"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Mandaiyar responded. He unholstered his P226. "Take this. I got my G36, and that's all I need."

"All that time on the range is gonna pay off now." Barnes said.

"When did you have time to go to the range?"

"Most days, actually."

"But you're at the door most days, right?"

Barnes grinned, and said "I may be old, but I ain't docile, Joseph."

"So you went to the range while you were supposed to be doing your job."

"Yup."

Mandaiyar smiled and said "Man, Barnes, if the facility wasn't getting invaded and sustaining massive casualties, I'd write you up. Guess I'm glad for it now, though."

The pair walked down the stairs, ironsights to their eyes as they prepared to fight. They first encountered a group of soldiers heading out of the Armory, where Joseph had ambushed the three soldiers. There were about 5, all heavily armed. None of them were ready for a fight, though. Their leader, the literal tallest head in the room, was talking to them all. "This Mandaiyar fellow is highly dangerous. We have reason to believe it was him that killed Theta, Epsilon, and Zeta. Be on your guard."

Mandaiyar paid no heed as he level his gun at them. Barnes did as well, the both of them hidden by the shadows. "3…2…1…NOW!" Mandaiyar said.

Having pre-selected targets, the two men fired. Mandaiyar's first burst took out 3 and 4, and Barnes's shot hit their leader straight in the head, crumpling him to the ground. 2 and 5 leveled their guns at the two, but Mandaiyar's second burst from the carbine made quick work of them. The two reloaded their guns and walked down to survey their handiwork. "Ah, lookie here," Barnes said. "They seem to be carryin' our weapons and our ammo."

They were indeed. The men looted the ammo and took nearly all of it, including grenades, holstering it in various places around their body. "I always wondered what it was like to be a Heavy," Barnes said.

The two headed down the hallway to the Office Complex, in the same formation. This time, though, they were preparing to shoot at the first chance they received. They entered the main room. Immediately, Mandaiyar registered multiple soldiers throughout the room. "Flank 'em!" he said.

Barnes went right, and Mandaiyar went left. They both began to single out individual targets and leveled their weapons at them. Joseph began firing in short bursts and then crouching behind cover as the enemy returned fire. His accuracy was near perfect, and he made quick work of the attackers. Barnes, his unregulated practice time on the range paying off, did the same.

Suddenly, a black-clad soldier emerged to the side of Barnes. Mandaiyar was already engaging someone, and even if he had aimed quickly, it wouldn't have been fast enough to save Barnes. The soldier aimed and fired…

Just as a loud rifle-loud soud pierced the air, the impact of the projectile sending the soldier flying into the wall.

Barnes barely hit the ground before the string of bullets cut through the air above him. After the volley of lead had stopped, he stood up. Mandaiyar looked at the direction of the shot.

Standing there, with a .44 in hand, was Shephard, grinning.

"Well, now we're even, Grandpa," said Shephard. It was a name playfully given to Barnes and used by many, though he was only 55.

"I'd suppose so," Barnes replied.

"Man, Shephard, how'd you get out from the main desk? I thought you'd be the first one dead." Joseph asked.

"I almost was," Shephard replied. "I saw Barnes running upstairs, and when Barnes runs from something you _know _it's bad. I ran to Dr. Freeman to protect him. I tried to help the others, but some of them didn't make it," he gestured to the various corpses on the ground of the Office Complex. "Here, I'll lead you two to Freeman."

He led them along a path down to the Sector E Tunnels. Right at the entrance, they came to a large janitor's closet. Shephard rapped hardly on the door twice, and then 3 times: _one two, one one two. _After several seconds, a shotgun popped around the corner, and the door opened. Freeman stepped out.

"Joseph! Charles! You're alive! Thank God. I was beginning to think we were the only ones down here." Freeman said. He beckoned the three of them to come in, and they obliged.

Inside the closet, there were multiple scientists on the ground, eating protein bars and drinking water. Pierce, a Heavy, stood above them, M249 SAW resting on the ground. "As you can see, gentleman, we have gathered every Sector C survivor we could find here. Our safe haven, if you will."

"Freeman…what happened?" Mandaiyar asked.

"Matarus attacked us. He bombed the facility and then deployed his soldiers into the facility. As far as we can tell, they've occupied every sector of L-150, except Sector E."

"Wow…" Mandaiyar said. "Everyone else has been killed?"

"Not so," said Freeman. "There are still survivors throughout the facility…except for Sector A, as far as we can tell, everyone there is dead. The largest gathering of them…and enemies…is in Sector E, the Biology lab. They're still holding out there. Unfortunately, we can't send you through the tunnel system to get there, you'll have to go aboveground, there's at the side of this tunnel. You'll fight your way to get to D, and then carry on to E. You 3 will be our advance guard: you will clear the area ahead of us, and we'll follow, Pierce guarding us. You won't have to do it alone: we've contacted the US military and they're sending a large group of Marines to help us hear. Therefore, you can probably get them to help us clear E, and evacuate us from the facility.

Mandaiyar, Shephard, and Barnes started down the hallway. "Oh,and Joseph?" asked Freeman.

"Yes?"  
>"Good luck…you'll need it."<p>

Mandaiyar nodded in acknowledgement, and led Shephard and Barnes along the path.

_Hold on, Kate, _he thought. _I'm coming._


	4. Chapter 4: Siege

**Chapter 4: Siege**

Dr. Ride was having a miserable day. Granted, it was exciting, but the threat of getting a bullet in her head was all too familiar. It had been nearly 14 years since the last incident, 14 years of comfort and happiness. Now, that was changing.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Ride was one of the only researchers to know how to operate a weapon, or how to fight in general. The others were deep inside working on getting the radio to work while she stood guard with in the lobby. She had some sort of an assault rifle, and after about a half-hour of basic operation training, she was considered ready to defend the Sector.

At the moment, Ride was cursing Freeman's negligence on security. She, as well as her colleague Mandaiyar, had pressured him to request military security. The best he _said _he could do was to set up a plan for the military to arrive quickly at the facility in the case of emergency, but sometimes that _quickly _wasn't quick enough.

_Where's Mandaiyar? _She thought to herself. He should have been there by that point, as he always went to Sector E. Dr. Ride knew the reason he came – Kate. Mandaiyar had no other family. Both of his parents had been killed for resisting Matarus. Kate was three years his junior, a brilliant scientist already, but he was immensely protective. Perhaps a little too much so for the both of them.

A guard walked up. Shephard. His younger brother worked at Sector C, a close friend of Mandaiyar. "Pardon me, ma'am, your shift is over. I'm here to take over," he said.

"Tough morning," she added. "Never thought this would happen. Any word on the D and B survivors?

D was a hydro dam that provided energy to the entire facility, near the end of the facility overlooking Ramirez Lake. B was the farthest point of the base; it was the vehicle pool, and had roads and train lines connecting to Santa Fe, Phoenix, and the L-150 airport. Evidently, the attacks had been too intense for most of the D survivors to make it to E. Everyone at B had either been killed or they had run away.

"No. The technicians downstairs are trying to patch up the radios and find a way to communicate to the D survivors. "

"What about C?"

"Same. Dead. There could have been an alien landing there and we'd have no idea. Personally, I find it unlikely that Mandaiyar…and the others…would have died quite so easily." The pain was evident in his voice, as his older brother was at the main desk, right in the crossfire.

Dr. Ride nodded, as it didn't seem likely for Mandaiyar to have died that easily. If he had, they were doomed. There was no way to escape E without running into enemy patrols. Even though they had security guards there were likely not enough to break through the enemy. Without extra manpower from C, it was impossible to escape E. . Even though they had security guards there were likely not enough to break through the enemy. Without extra manpower from C, they would all die.

"Adam should be fine," she said, attempting to console his worried brother.

"Yeah," he said absentmindedly, obviously in pain.

Suddenly, there was burst of gunfire from outside, and the rooftop guard tumbled down the stairs, dead. Screams erupted in the lobby as the unarmed scientists fled to cover and the security guards, with various armaments, headed to the roof to handle the new threat. Dr. Ride went up with them, preparing to beat back the onslaught. She took a glance back, looking at the researchers below. A colleague, Patterson, stood there, and shouted up to her and the other guards "Hold them off! We're trying to get the radio working!"

She turned and ran up the stairs to the roof, where guards were leveling their guns. One Heavy pulled his machine gun sights to his eye and began to fire, the noise increasing in volume to deafening as every gun on the rooftop opened fire and the targets below responded. Ride flicked the safety of the gun, and moved to one side of the roof. Right in front of her, a man was shot. A spray of blood came from his chest and he fell backwards, dragged back by a medic.

She aimed down her sight, the thing the guards had called a HOLO sight. Ride crouched and selected a target, a man with a machine gun aiming at her. Reacting on impulse, she squeezed the trigger, emptying a good 10 rounds in to the man, sending him falling backwards. She aimed for another target, spraying at him, before the gun made a clicking noise, empty. She cursed as she clumsily pulled the magazine out and meticulously slotted in another. As Dr. Ride got back in line, she heard a _clink, _and right beside her landed a grenade.

She just stood there, watching it, when suddenly a man ran up beside her, picked it up, and tossed it to the ground moments before it exploded, killing several of the enemy. The man grabbed her by the arm, and threw her to the ground. "HEADS UP!" yelled the man, just as a fire shot out from the ground, right where her head had been, and took the man in the shoulder, sending him falling the ground gasping.

It had been Shephard.

Ride ran behind him and dragged him to the doorway of the roof entrance. She pulled out a first aid kit, but Shephard said "Doc, let it go." A loud _boom _rang downstairs, the distinctive sound of a shotgun. "Go take care of that."

She dropped the assault rifle and grabbed his Magnum, running downstairs. A group of black clad soldiers entered through the door, aiming their rifles at the researchers. Wasting no time, Ride raised the gun, aimed, and fired.

The shot boomed, the gun kicking like a mule in her hand, sending crushing pain throughout her hand as one of the soldiers was hit in the chest, flying backwards into his compatriot. She put her second hand around the hold of the gun, pointed, and fired, sending another soldier to the ground. The remaining soldiers aimed at her, but a burst from above sent one crumpling and another to the floor. The latter tried to crawl away, but her third shot finished him off.

Ignoring the pain in her hand, Dr. Ride ran up the roof, reading to fight again, but there was no fight. The remaining soldiers ran away, a nearby riflemen downing one. A chorus of cheers erupted on the roof as the men realized they had protected the roof. She moved out of the way as several infirmary doctors ran up the roof to treat the wounded. One of them went to Shephard, looking at his shoulder. "How is he?" she asked.

"The bullets shattered his shoulder," the doctor said as he took out a needle. "Should be fine."

Hearing shattered made the pain in Dr. Ride's hand seem more potent. She sat down, nursing the hand, which must have been broken. The same doctor walked up to her and jammed a relatively large needle into her arm. "Aagh!" she yelled. "What the he-"

"You fired a .44 Magnum with one hand," the doctor explained. "Broke multiple bones in your hand. I gave you a nano-machine injection, which should speed up the healing process."

Immediately, the pain began to subside. "Nano-machines?" she asked.

"Little computers given to a patient through injection. It monitors your health levels and aids in treatment. It's experimental, as well."

This worried Dr. Ride. "So we're the testing ground?"

The doctor nodded, and added with an evil grin "We're the testing ground for more than just the nanos. Do you want to know how they make the taco meat?"

"_No." _she replied. Although this was likely that it was the last day she would ever work at L-150 – one way or another – she would rather not hear about the inevitable pink slime.

The pain in her hand residing, Ride stood up and walked downstairs. Dr. Patterson walked out of the radio room with a massive grin on his face. Kate was right beside him, her hand wrapped in gauze, a similar smile on her face. "We got the radio to work," Kate said.

"What happened to your hand?" Ride added, her colleagues' happiness spreading rapidly.

"Electric burn. Hurt quite a lot, I might add. But that's inconsequential. I'm going to go get a drink, and I'll let Patterson explain what we've found out."

As Kate walked away, Patterson began. "With the working radio, we contacted the different Sectors. Unfortunately, we have reason to believe that there are no survivors at A; no one responded. At B, we also didn't find anyone, as everyone there must have fled. We contacted D as well; it appears that the scientists there are hiding in the generator rooms."

As he paused, Ride asked "What about C?" a worried tone in her voice.

"They appear to have been hit hard. Most of the staff there are dead, including most of the security." She grimaced. That was less manpower, the one thing that could get them out of the facility.

Patterson continued. "However, Freeman has gathered the surviving scientists into a safe room along with a Heavy, and Mandaiyar, Barnes, and Shephard fought their way to Freeman, clearing out the facility of hostile soldiers. Freeman has sent the last three to save us, as well as lead the C survivors to safety. We also found out that Freeman has contacted the military, and they're sending a group of Marines to help us and evacuate us."

Ride breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the military was here, they wouldn't have to fight their way over. That made things easier.

Her stomach rumbled. _About those tacos…_


	5. Chapter 5: Apprehension

**Chapter 5: Apprehension**

The security transit tunnels were ridiculously long. In some cases, depending on the distance between the respective facilities, they could be as long as 1 mile. The guards had started a petition to add vehicles to the tunnels, or perhaps make them a tram system. So far, no one had acted on it. Thus Joseph and Co. were forced to walk nearly half a mile to get to the tunnel exit they were supposed to exit. It wasn't even the main exit of the tunnel, merely a side exit to the surface.

All three of them emerged from the tunnel, squinting with the light of the sun. By this point, it was late afternoon, about 5. The sun was low over the New Mexico desert, painting the rocks bright orange. The men scanned their immediate area. No enemy soldiers. Strange.

Mandaiyar heard a helicopter nearby, and looked up just as several camouflaged craft – Ospreys by the looks of them – flew overhead. "It's the Marines," Mandaiyar said. "They're finally here."

The men continued on their path to E. They rounded a corner. Joseph had his compatriots hold back while he quickly glanced around the corner. A squad of 10 enemy soldiers were advancing forward, oblivious to their enemies around the corner. "The Marines have arrived," their leader said. "Our objective is to go to C, eliminate any survivors, and hold it from the Marines. Clear?"

"Yessir!" his men replied.

Joseph turned back to his men. They nodded, ready for a fight. Barnes raised his gun, and Shephard reloaded his gun, putting two hands on the trigger and bringing his ironsights into view. Mandaiyar leveled his G36 with one hand, and began to count down with his fingers to the attack. "On three," he whispered. _One…two…three!_

Shephard and Barnes peeked around the corner with their pistols drawn, picking off the more heavily armed soldiers. Joseph rolled out from the wall and hosed the enemy down with bullets. The remaining soldiers ducked behind cover. Mandaiyar quickly snatched a grenade from his belt. He pulled the pin, waited for three seconds, and threw it. It landed right behind the enemies' cover. They noticed it, but it was too late. The grenade exploded, killing the two behind barricades. The entire engagement lasted about 10 seconds, leaving the enemy squadron destroyed and the men unscathed.

Joseph pulled his clip out, dropped it, as he had fired the entire clip into the enemy formation, and slotted a new clip in. Barnes slotted a new clip into his P226, and Shephard took out a speedloader and slotted it into the drum of his weapon. They walked up to the enemy and began to scavenge weapons, as Barnes and Shephard were only carrying pistols. Shephard, a former Marine, picked up an M4A1 and ammo for it, and Barnes, a former Navy SEAL, grabbed a silenced MP5 from the stack, raising it to the soldier for a moment to get a feel for the weapon. "Hey, Joseph, look at this," Shephard said, holding up a tube attached to the muzzle of the M4A1. "M203 Grenade Launcher attachment. Haven't used one of these since my days in the Corps."

Joseph remembered that Shephard had been honorably discharged. He decided not to ask how.

Knowing that the gunfire would attract attention, the security men continued on. Joseph considered himself fortunate for having two other former soldiers with him. He had never officially been part of any military, but he was a private defense contractor, and he worked both in private security and for the US military as a mercenary. It wasn't Joseph's ideal line of work, but he was skilled in it, and being a mercenary made good money. Had these three men just been run of the mill security guards, they wouldn't have survived. The Matarus mercenaries had no idea whom they were dealing with.

Joseph led the men to a ridge, which they climbed. The higher they went, the more dangerous a fall would be. They would likely break a limb, or perhaps be paralyzed. Luckily, the guards, including Barnes, often exercised and were fit and healthy. When they reached the top of the ridge, they came to a round tunnel, most likely a drain.

"I feel like I'm a kindergartner again," Shephard said, "crawling through the slides at the park."

Shephard and Barnes groaned as they crawled through, but Mandaiyar made no noise. During his…training… there were many times that he had needed to get from one place to another without being seen. Thus he quickly learned the pathways of vents inside the facility where he was kept, and how to move through them. He was 14 when he, after years of planning, escaped from his barracks into the vents and out of the facility. That moment most likely saved his life, and ironically he felt a feeling of freedom crawling through the claustrophobic vents. They crawled through the tube, past multiple different pathways, until they came to clearing, and a ladder within. Joseph motioned for them to stay down in the clearing while he went up to the surface.

He barely moved his head over the top of the tunnel, scanning the area for enemies. In his near radius, he could see no one, but about 100 meters out from his positon, he saw a fight. Though the images were small at a distance, he had been trained to look for details in a small or blurry image that would help him clarify what he was seeing. Joseph used this skill now.

A group of soldiers – Marines – were behind a barricade, guns atop the wall. They were under attack by a group of other uniformed soldiers – mercenaries – who were firing back. The Marines sustained several casualties, but their return fire was precise and deadly. They killed most of the mercenaries, causing the survivors to retreat. After they had gone, a scientist ran out from a building, obviously greeting his saviors. The soldiers leveled their rifles at him, but lowered them when they realized he was a civilian. He said something to the soldiers – indecipherable at Mandaiyar's range – and then went to a nearby building's door, tapping a series of a number on a keypad. He turned back to them…

And one of them fired a shotgun at him, blasting him back to the door, dead.

Mandaiyar took a double take. No. That couldn't have happened. They were the defenders of American justice, not murderers.

The body was still there. The soldiers entered the building, one of them dragging the body to the side to allow easier passage.

Shocked, Joseph went back down the ladder. "What happened?" Shephard asked, having noticed Joseph's expression.

"I just saw a Marine kill a scientist."

Shephard's eyes widened. "What?!"

"They shot down a squad of mercenaries, and then he came out, and they shot him."

Barnes joined in. "How do you know that this Marine wasn't just acting on impulse? I mean, it was one guy. Maybe he was just jittery."

Joseph's shook his head sadly. "No. He came out, thanking them for saving him. He walked over to a nearby building to type in his keypad, and when he had opened the door they shot him. A _separate _Marine dragged the body out of the way."

Shephard and Barnes just sat there, shell shocked. Shocked though they were, though, they had to keep moving. "I recommend we go one of the separate ways we went buy," said Shephard. "We might be able to flank them."

"I agree," said Barnes. "Time for some justice."

They backtracked to a tunnel they had walked buy. This time, they had to crawl farther. They came instead to an air vent, and they entered it. When the men came out, they were in a security building, an outpost between C and E. They searched through the building, finding it empty. They reconvened. "Get to a window," said Mandaiyar. "Look for any Marines or mercenaries. As of now, we consider Marines to be enemies."

Suddenly, Joseph heard a number of footsteps running across the road to the building. "Flank the door!" he hissed.

Someone knocked on the door. "Let me in! I'm a scientist." The voice belonged to a male about 24 years old. Definitely not a scientist.

"You aren't a scientist," Joseph said accusingly. "You're a Marine."

"Alright, you got me."

"Why did you try to hide as a scientist?"

"Uh… you wouldn't let me in?"

"Why wouldn't I let you in? We're on the same side, aren't we?"

The Marine hesitated, and then said "Well, will you let me in?"

"Sorry," Joseph said. "This place has gone to heck in a handbasket and frankly, I'd rather not let a well-armed person get near me until they can prove they're trustworthy."

"Suit yourself," the Marine responded. "Breach the door!"

Joseph leveled his rifle at the door, at chest level. If they even tried to come in, he'd gun them down before they had a chance to fire.

The door was steel and difficult to break into, but he heard a clicking sound and a Marine yelling "Get clear!" He barely had time to get behind the wall as the door exploded, the debris going straight his way. Joseph quickly moved back and aimed.

A Marine with a shotgun went through the door. Wasting no time, Barnes, who hadn't been affected by the debris, shot him in the head with the MP5, blocking the door way. A Medic came forward and tried to move him, but Mandaiyar, now in position, show him down. Two more soldier tried to enter, but Barnes pulled out his Magnum, ran to the door, and finished them off.

Joseph let go of a breath he had been holding since the beginning of the engagement, and reloaded his weapon. "Well, this _sucks," _he said.

Shephard nodded, and added "Yeah. We just killed 5 US MARINES!"

Barnes, forever the realist, replied "Look, do you want to get out of this situation or not? We're doing this in self-defense. The justice system probably can't lock us up for that. And hey, if the government hunts us down, we can always go to Russia."

"They can find us there," Shephard added gloomily.

"Yeah, but they'll have to go through me," Mandaiyar said. "Nevertheless, we should leave here. Probably not the best place to be."

They reloaded and headed out, nearly tripping over the bodies of the dead Marines. "Alright. From now on, Marines are our enemies. We can't afford treating them as friends. Clear?" Mandaiyar asked.

They both concurred, and they headed out. Around a corner, they saw a Marine base in the distance. Directly ahead of them was a small watchtower, barely 10 feet tall. Guarding it were two Marines, both with their backs turned to the men. One of them checked a radio. After listening to it, he said "They just captured a whole group of workers. Evidently, we're preparing to attack E."

Joseph's heart sank. That group of workers was most likely the scientists. He cursed himself for not checking behind him. If they attacked E, they would kill all the survivors.

Joseph unsheathed a knife he had taken from a dead mercenary. He motioned for Shephard and Barnes to stay back as he crept forwards. He went up behind the one grabbed him, and stabbed him in the throat, killing him. The other attempted to hit him with the butt of his gun, but Mandaiyar deflected the blow and hit the soldier in the head. The soldier fell, and Mandaiyar stabbed him as well.

Barnes and Shephard came up behind him. Shephard and Mandaiyar got behind the tower wall, but Barnes crept up the tower. "I'll just take a look," Barnes said.

"Barnes, no!" Mandaiyar said, but it was too late. He heard a distant rifle shot – a sniper – and a moment later Barnes fell backwards, hit in the chest.

Shephard and Mandaiyar barely registered his death before they heard yells in the Marine camp. They readied their rifles, prepared to fight to the end. Joseph wanted to survive, but with the Marines closing in that seemed unlikely. He prepared to die.

Suddenly, behind him, he heard a gruff voice yell "GET THEM!" Mandaiyar barely turned before he saw the butt of a gun swing towards his head. He felt himself fall backwards, and then everything went black.

_**And so ends the pilot section of Flames!**_

_**It will actually be continued, of course, as it seems like an incomplete story as is. I haven't done any of these author's notes at the end of a chapter yet, as I am worried that they may break story flow. I may actually add them at the end of upcoming chapters, but I don't think it worth it to do that now. Misc. stuff I'd like you all to here:**_

_**1.) I apologize for the length of some chapters. I made up the chapters as I went, so I didn't really pace myself. I think "Trauma" and "Apprehension" are the greatest offenders.**_

_**2.) I'd like to thank Wingate from Wyndham and their power outlets for allowing my old HP to write about 8,666 words in the space of two nights and one car ride.**_

_**3.) Yes, Dr. Ride is Maximum Ride from the series of the same name, plus 15 years.**_

_**4.) Yes, I know that there's that significant other part of this crossover. That'll be written later, so don't call me a liar.**_

_**5.) The facility name is L-150. **_

_**6.) I realize how odd it is for the order of the sectors from one end of the facility to another to be Dormitories, A, C, E, D, B. No offense, but deal with it.**_

_**7.) That whole bit with the tunnels was something I wrote first and thought about later. I didn't really think the distance between C and E would be 1-2 miles long until I wrote "Apprehension."**_

_**8.) Dr. Freeman's name is a reference.**_

_**9.) Shephard's name is a reference to two different characters.**_

_**10.) You KNOW who "Patterson" is a reference to.**_

_**11.) There's a plot hole in "Trauma" later carried on to "Apprehension", where Barnes says "I always wanted to know what is was like to be a Heavy. Implying that he said this after arming himself, why would he need to get other weapons later?**_

_**12.) I DON'T HATE THE GOVERNMENT OR THINK THAT THEY CAUSED 9/11 OR WHATEVER. I ALSO DON'T HATE OUR ARMED FORCES OR THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT SERVE WITHIN THEM. I just thought it might make for an interesting conspiracy-theory-esque plot.**_

_**13.) Plot Hole #2: How did Freeman get a whole collection of scientists to one place while enemy mercenaries were patrolling the area? **_

_**14.) Joseph, Kate, Freeman, Barnes, Shephard the mercenaries, Matarus, etc. are mine. If you steal them I will be very ;-;**_

_**15.) Barnes is just a regular security guard, more or less, yet he's 55, 26 years older than Mandaiyar, and he's presumably more experienced. So why isn't he the head of security or at least a Heavy?**_

_**16.) This list is too long.**_

_**Note: The Artemis Fowl section will eventually be released. Not yet. Keep your pants on and keep checking the fanfic for updates.**_

_**Well, that's about it. Thank you for reading this story in its current UNFINISHED state. Please review! New chapters will come out eventually, but for the time being that might be slow, as I have school and that rarely leaves me much time, and I spend most of my free time playing video games, so…**_

_**Nevermind. Thanks for readin',**_

_**AnOddPerson. **_


	6. Chapter 6: Captivity

**Chapter 6: Captivity**

Mandaiyar's head hurt. In fact, he was sure that for the most part his head was broken in hundreds of pieces and each was sending out an equally painful signal.

He existed on a different plane, of pain and darkness. No thought was coherent. He wasn't even sure that his head injury was real, nor the entire day. Perhaps Joseph had had a severe brain injury, and he had hallucinated the whole thing-

A fresh shard shot its way through his brain, clearing these thoughts. He could hear voices in the background, perhaps a couple gunshots. "I think he's waking up," one of the voices said.

Mandaiyar opened his eyes, the sunlight causing him to close them again quickly. After several seconds, he opened his eyes again. He was in a security office with a window, tied to a chair. A pair of Marines were looking over him.

"Are you Mandaiyar?" one asked, trying to mask his high-pitched voice with a fake bass.

Mandaiyar did not want to reveal his identity if possible, so he responded "No entiendo Inglés,": _I don't understand English._

One of the soldiers raised his fist and hit Mandaiyar in the jaw. "Alright, I'm Mandaiyar, arsehole," he said. He summoned bloodied saliva and spat it at the soldier, taking him in the vest.

"Defender of justice my foot," he said. "I knew we had ulterior motives for going to war in some places, but this is taking it too far."

The other soldier laughed. "You best be showin' some respect, cuz' we ain't just Marines. We're the Containment and Security Unit. Top secret. They picked the best of us for this unit."

"I remember you type of grunts from my mercenary work in the war when I was younger. Idiots who'd follow any order they were give, cowards who abused their "power" by scaring cadets and civilians. I have nothing but contempt for you, no respect."

A glint of fear showed in man's eye. Mandaiyar was a mercenary who'd had fought in everything from private service to fighting with SAS in North Africa. He knew he could take these two morons down in a flash, and he was slowly working his way through the rope binding his hands. "I'll teach you some respect you son of a-"

"Sarge's coming!" the other hissed. The soldiers stepped into line in front of Mandaiyar.

The door opened. A gruff looking man, likely about 30, stepped in front of Mandaiyar. After looking him over, he said "You know why we kept you alive?"

"So you can bully me?"

"No," said the man. "It's because you might know something we don't."

"So you're going to bully me into telling it to you?"

The man was confused, and after a moment of pondering proceeded to strike Mandaiyar in the face.

"Amazing response. Your wordplay was excellent, stunningly put-"

"Shut it!" the man yelled.

"Yessir!" Mandaiyar said.

The sergeant ground his teeth. "We know it's Matarus who's attacking you. When did the attack start?"

"This morning."

"Broad, Mr. Mandaiyar. _Too _broad. Can you narrow it down?"

"0830? 0900? Idunno."

"All right, I'll drop the diversions," the sergeant said. "We aren't here to ask questions. We're here to shut you up. All of you. But someone important has decided that you should live, Mr. Mandaiyar. We're welling to let you. All you have to do is promise to keep quiet about this whole thing, and we'll give you an armored ride the hell out of here. We'll be watching you, of course."

Mandaiyar thought of the situation; of Matarus attacking an unthreatening research facility, and the US government trying to cover it up. And he replied. "If you think that, after all I've seen here, I'll be quiet about the whole thing, you're dead wrong."

The sergeant nodded his head, then said "There is another alternative." He pulled out a Desert Eagle from a holster and pointed it at Mandaiyar's jaw.

"We'll make you unable to speak."

Mandaiyar's hands were almost through the rope at this point, and he suddenly struggled to break it. _C'mon, Joseph, you weak-_

Suddenly, the glass window behind the sergeant shattered into pieces. The shot took the man in the chest. His eyes grew wide as he crumpled onto Mandaiyar, dead. The soldier rushed to the door, rifles pointed at an unseen enemy. Mandaiyar's jolt at the shock of shot caused his hands to shoot right through the rope, freeing him. He took the Deagle from the soldier's hand, and shoved him off. He stood up, not worrying about the other soldiers, for they were preoccupied. Behind him, he saw a rusted metal grate, barely held on its hinges. Joseph looked back at the soldiers. They barely saw him. He kicked in the grate, causing it crumble into the vent below it. One of the soldiers turned around. "Stop him!" he yelled.

But it was too late. Mandaiyar had already jumped into the vent, beginning to slide down the tube, the waste pipe he had not known of.

Mandaiyar's landing was by no means smooth. He initially intended to crouch-walk out of the pipe, but the pipe was slippery with water. He slid down rapidly before coming to a light end. Mandaiyar fell into a pool of water below. He swam upwards and crawled out. The water was far from ideal, unclean though it was; however, it was still better than fecal matter. Drawing the Desert Eagle, Mandaiyar continued on.

He could tell that he was in a far back area of the facility. He traveled through a shallow ravine, and at the end of it, he found the an exposed wall. It was labeled "Maintenance Entrance", and it was marked by several different ladders and platforms. The most prominent feature, though, was a name, painted on the walls in bold white letters: **SECTOR E. **

It was a shock to Mandaiyar. He had believed himself to be in a much different part of the facility, perhaps Sector D, which was the Energy and Waste Management Facility. To reach Sector E this soon was both a joyful and worrying status: on one hand, he was closer to his ultimate goal, which was uniting with the E survivors. On the other, if the Marines were so close to the facility, there was the possibility that...

He shook this thought from his mind. Such thoughts had never helped him, and he did not expect them to start doing it now. Joseph walked to one of the ladders. He began to climb when he slipped on the bottom rung. He looked down: it was _b__lood. _He climbed forward, reaching the top in a matter of seconds. Up at the top was a dead CaS (Containment and Security) soldier. He had been shot in the throat, and recently, it seemed. Unfortunately, he was deprived of any weapons. Mandaiyar walked along the path which the soldier was on, coming to a door, which he opened. The door creaked, causing Mandaiyar to freeze; however, after that, the door made no more noises, and he walked into the room in which it was located.

It was indeed a maintenance room. It seemed to be a storage room, full of crates. It was empty. Joseph walked along the path, crouched. He came to the end, and turned the corner. Suddenly, a pair of voices cried out. Mercenaries. Mandaiyar ducked behind a crate as gunfire ripped through it, crumbling it. He pulled out the Deagle, and lifted his head up above the crates and aimed down his sights. The two men were rushing towards, him, their gun barrels unwisely pointed down. He fired two shots, taking each of them in the head. They crumpled to the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Mandaiyar reloaded the gun and walked over to the Mercenaries. In their hands were a TR-37 Assault Rifle. He picked it up and took its ammo out of the second rifle. Reloading the weapon, he walked on. Suddenly, he felt something grab his leg. He was pulled to the ground, his rifle knocked out of his hands. A bullet merely grazed one of the mercenaries helmets. He took a knife, and advanced on Mandaiyar, the knife blade pointed right at his throat. The mercenary was talking to a radio, alerting his fellows to Mandaiyar's position. Mandaiyar came up and tripped him, falling the man and grabbing his knife. The man came at him again, but now Mandaiyar slashed him in the stomach. The mercenary fell, and Mandaiyar kicked him in the head, killing him.

But the damage was already done. As Mandaiyar ran to the door to get out of the building, it wouldn't budge. The door had been electronically locked shut.

He ran back behind a crate and mounted his rifle on top of it. At the very least, he'd go down fighting.

_**And so ends Chapter 6!**_

_**I know it's been a long time in coming, but I've had a lot of work recently and it hasn't been easy to write. I was urged to get this out by Christmas, and hey, I did it!**_

_**I think I've decided to write a book much like this fanfic, except without the elements of it from already-created book series. I would even make Joseph Mandaiyar a character. I won't reveal much about the story other than that.**_

_**Merry Christmas...or whatever you celebrate. (Happy, antitheists?)**_


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